What the scores mean

A: 90 to 100 percent, in compliance with state law

B: 80 to 89, needs improvement, and major violations must be corrected before an inspector leaves

C: 79 or below, a failing grade

San Diego’s increasingly ubiquitous food trucks graduated this week from their former pass/fail inspection status to the familiar A, B and C letter grades issued to their culinary brethren in the brick-and-mortar restaurant world.

Whether it’s a gourmet hot dog, sushi roll or falafel you’re looking to grab for a quick lunch these days, rest assured you’ll now be able to quickly glance up at the food truck and know right away whether the mobile operation has been deemed safe by the county’s Department of Environmental Health.

However, because the new grading system is just being rolled out this week, it will likely be two months before all of the county’s 550 trucks and carts will be inspected and receive their respective grades. The first letter grades were issued Tuesday to a smoothie cart and a burgers and burritos truck.

Yes
41% (126)

No
59% (178)

304 total votes.

While the growing number of mobile operations have already been getting regular inspections just like restaurants do, there was never an easy, accessible way for consumers to determine the outcome of those visits by county health workers, other than asking for the latest report from the truck operator.

“The type of events I go to, I’m often set up in a park where there’s also a snack bar, and you don’t know how knowledgeable these people are, but by seeing the letter grade, people will know it’s safe to eat and that I’ve been inspected,” said Chris Garrett, co-owner with his wife, Rosa, of the Maui Wowi smoothie cart. “I’d hope it would be better for business. I do think people are hesitant when they see us, but we have a professional-looking cart, and with a letter grade, it will help even more.”

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The county’s move to transition into a letter grade system began in earnest last year after U-T San Diego and 10News launched inquiries into why an industry that serves fare to the general public wasn’t being scored the same way as brick-and-mortar restaurants. The U-T found that half the trucks and carts that were inspected had been cited for one or more violations in 2010 and 2011.

County Supervisor Ron Roberts followed up by pushing the county to initiate the grading system for mobile operations. He said at the time that he was embarrassed to learn that such a system wasn’t already in place.

Although there are few areas of the country where letter grades are issued for food trucks, Los Angeles was something of a pioneer, expanding its restaurant grading system to mobile vendors in 2010.

“The Department of Environmental Health and the mobile-food industry are very excited about the grading, because it allows consumers to make an educated, safe dining choice before you walk up to a food truck,” said Heather Buonomo, an environmental health specialist with San Diego County’s health department. “Although they’re inspected, there’s not a good way to verify it, but now customers will know for sure what grade was received on the last food inspection.”